Silver Sunday For REDS At AUS Championships
(ST. JOHN'S, NL) The UNB REDS wrapped up the 2026 Atlantic University Sport Swimming Championships by claiming ten more medals Sunday, including two gold and five silver.
The day began with Julia Hussey claiming bronze in the women's 200-metre butterfly.
In the men's 200 fly, first-year RED Camden Reid raced to victory, and teammate Daniel Duguay followed in third.
"Touching the wall and seeing that I won was an unreal moment," said Reid. "I was super happy with the result and am really grateful for the opportunity to compete at this level and race against such a strong group of guys."
In the women's 50-metre breaststroke, Maria McDougall earned a surprise silver medal.
"It was exciting to race in an event I don't normally do," said McDougall. "I'm very happy with my placing and time."
In the men's 50-metre breaststroke, first-year RED Matthew deGoey out-touched teammate Blake Kingston as UNB took gold and silver.
deGoey's time of 27.86 was 1/10th of a second better than Kingston's and broke Kingston's AUS record in the event. Both swimmers were under the standard to qualify for the U SPORTS Championships next month.
UNB's Ethan Nestoruk was fourth in the 50 breast, 1/100th of a second back of third place.
"Blake and Ethan have been such great mentors and motivators for me all season," said deGoey. "I'm grateful for Coach Belsh and my fellas for pushing me all year. I'm very excited for U SPORTS."
In the women's 100-metre freestyle, Hannah MacLeod added to her weekend haul with a silver medal while UNB's Will Franklin took the bronze medal in the men's 100 free.
UNB took silver medals from both the women's and men's 4-by-100-metre medley relays.
In the team standings, the UNB men finished second behind conference champion Dalhousie, while the REDS women were third.
"This was such an exciting weekend for the whole team," said Marta Belsh, head coach of the REDS. "I knew we were ready to race, but what surprised me was the great racing we got from every swimmer. We were all in it to raise the bar and we did."
Kingston was named male swimmer of the meet and deGoey male rookie of the meet.
UNB's Bronwyn Preece was named female rookie of the meet and McDougall was named AUS female Rookie of the Year.
"I'm thankful for the opportunity to swim for the REDS," said Preece. "I could not have performed to the best of my ability without the support of Coach Marta and the team."
The U SPORTS Championships take place March 12-14 in Markham, Ontario, hosted by McMaster University.
STORY BY: Andy Campbell/UNB REDS
PHOTOS BY: Udantha Chandraratne/for Memorial Athletics